AMD Radeon Pro Duo vs NVIDIA Tesla P4 Comparison

The NVIDIA Tesla P4 and AMD Radeon Pro Duo represent two radically different approaches to professional graphics from the same era, and the benchmark data reflects that. The Radeon Pro Duo takes the single head-to-head victory, but the Tesla P4’s profile tells a different story about efficiency and specialization. This comparison relies entirely on the provided benchmark results, architectural specifications, and nearest-rival data to determine which card suits which workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the AMD Radeon Pro Duo comes out ahead. It scores 35,860 points against the NVIDIA Tesla P4’s 34,947 points. That is a delta of -2.5% from the perspective of the Tesla P4, meaning the AMD card is roughly 2.5% faster in this specific compute test. While the margin is narrow, it is a consistent win for the Radeon Pro Duo in raw OpenCL throughput.

Context from the nearest rivals puts both cards in a similar performance tier. The Tesla P4’s average benchmark score is 37,628, which places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (37,648) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507). The Radeon Pro Duo’s average score of 35,860 is 1% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (35,520) and 1.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35,435). Notably, the Tesla P4 also has a Vulkan score of 40,309, which is not matched by the Radeon Pro Duo in the provided data, suggesting the NVIDIA card has additional API-specific strength that the OpenCL comparison does not capture.

The win count is decisive in one sense: the Radeon Pro Duo wins 1 benchmark, while the Tesla P4 wins 0. However, the Tesla P4’s Vulkan result indicates that the AMD card’s victory is not absolute across all workloads. The percentile rankings are nearly identical—the Tesla P4 sits at the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro Duo sits at the 80th—so both are positioned as above-average performers in their respective niches. In practical terms, the 2.5% OpenCL gap is a minor difference that would rarely be perceptible in real-world tasks, but it is the only direct numerical comparison the data supports.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear but nuanced verdict. If your priority is raw compute performance in OpenCL-based applications, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo is the winner. It holds a 2.5% advantage in the only shared benchmark, and its 8.192 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantially higher than the Tesla P4’s 5.704 TFLOPS. For workloads that hammer FP32 or FP16 compute—where the Radeon Pro Duo delivers 8.192 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio versus the Tesla P4’s 89.12 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio—the AMD card is the obvious choice.

However, the Tesla P4 compensates with a superior feature set for modern API compatibility. Its Vulkan support is version 1.4, compared to the Radeon Pro Duo’s 1.2.170, and its DirectX support is 12_1 versus the AMD card’s 12_0. The Tesla P4 also has 8 GB of memory versus the Radeon Pro Duo’s 4 GB, which matters for larger datasets. The Tesla P4’s 75 W TDP is a fraction of the Radeon Pro Duo’s 350 W, making it a far more practical card for dense servers or workstations with power constraints. The Radeon Pro Duo requires 3x 8-pin power connectors and a 750 W suggested PSU, while the Tesla P4 needs no external connectors and only a 250 W PSU.

The verdict is a split decision. The Radeon Pro Duo wins on raw compute and memory bandwidth, but the Tesla P4 wins on power efficiency, API modernity, and memory capacity. For a builder optimizing for compute density, the Radeon Pro Duo’s higher TFLOPS are tempting. For a builder optimizing for system integration and long-term software support, the Tesla P4 is the safer bet.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Duo wins in scenarios that demand maximum FP32 or FP16 throughput. Its 8.192 TFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio) is a massive advantage over the Tesla P4’s 5.704 TFLOPS FP32 and severely limited 89.12 GFLOPS FP16 (1:64 ratio). This makes the Radeon Pro Duo the better option for scientific computing, deep learning inference that relies on FP16, or any OpenCL-heavy workload where raw number-crunching is the bottleneck. Its 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, achieved through a 4096-bit bus with HBM memory, also gives it a edge in memory-bound tasks, though the 4 GB capacity is a limiting factor.

The NVIDIA Tesla P4 wins in scenarios where power, size, and compatibility matter more than peak compute. Its 75 W TDP and single-slot form factor make it ideal for passive-cooled servers or multi-GPU systems where the Radeon Pro Duo’s dual-slot, 350 W design would be impractical. The Tesla P4’s 8 GB GDDR5 memory is double the Radeon Pro Duo’s 4 GB, so it can hold larger models or datasets in memory. Its newer API support—DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4—ensures better compatibility with modern software stacks. The Tesla P4 also has a Vulkan benchmark score of 40,309, which is higher than its OpenCL score, indicating it may outperform the Radeon Pro Duo in Vulkan-specific workloads even though no direct comparison is available.

The Radeon Pro Duo also wins on texture fill rate, at 256.0 GTexel/s versus the Tesla P4’s 178.2 GTexel/s, and it has more shading units (4096 versus 2560) and TMUs (256 versus 160). The Tesla P4 counters with a higher pixel rate at 71.30 GPixel/s versus the Radeon Pro Duo’s 64.00 GPixel/s, which could benefit certain rasterization tasks.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Duo is faster, scoring 35,860 points compared to the NVIDIA Tesla P4’s 34,947 points, a 2.5% advantage.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Tesla P4 have any benchmark advantage?

A: Yes, the Tesla P4 has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 40,309, which is higher than its OpenCL score. The Radeon Pro Duo has no Vulkan benchmark listed, so this is a potential area where the NVIDIA card wins.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The Tesla P4’s average score of 37,628 is within 0.1% of the RTX 4070 and 0.3% ahead of the RX Vega 56. The Radeon Pro Duo’s average of 35,860 is 1% ahead of the Quadro GV100 and 1.2% ahead of the RTX 5070 Ti Mobile.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P4 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the AMD Radeon Pro Duo has 4 GB of HBM memory. The Radeon Pro Duo has higher bandwidth at 512.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Tesla P4 has a 75 W TDP with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The Radeon Pro Duo has a 350 W TDP, requires 3x 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 750 W.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The Tesla P4 supports DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon Pro Duo supports DirectX 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures from different process nodes. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 uses the GP104 chip based on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. It contains 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 22.9M per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro Duo uses the Capsaicin chip based on GCN 3.0, fabricated on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 8,900 million transistors on a much larger 596 mm² die, with a lower density of 14.9M per mm².

The Radeon Pro Duo’s architecture is older and less dense, but it compensates with more raw resources: 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, versus the Tesla P4’s 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The memory subsystems are radically different. The Tesla P4 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, while the Radeon Pro Duo uses 4 GB of HBM on a 4096-bit bus. This gives the AMD card a bandwidth advantage of 512.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s, but the NVIDIA card offers double the capacity.

The FP16 capability is a major architectural divider. The Tesla P4’s Pascal architecture implements FP16 at a 1:64 ratio, meaning it is effectively negligible at 89.12 GFLOPS. The Radeon Pro Duo’s GCN 3.0 architecture handles FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, delivering 8.192 TFLOPS. This makes the AMD card vastly superior for any workload that uses half-precision math. Neither card has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets diverge sharply in nearly every category. The Tesla P4 has a base clock of 886 MHz and a boost clock of 1114 MHz, while the Radeon Pro Duo lists no base or boost clock values. Memory clocks differ as well: the Tesla P4 runs at 1502 MHz with 6 Gbps effective, while the Radeon Pro Duo runs at 500 MHz with 1000 Mbps effective. The Radeon Pro Duo’s higher bandwidth comes from its 4096-bit bus, not from faster memory clocks.

Physical dimensions are a major differentiator. The Tesla P4 is 168 mm (6.6 inches) long and single-slot, with no display outputs. The Radeon Pro Duo is 277 mm (10.9 inches) long and 111 mm (4.4 inches) tall, dual-slot, and includes 1x HDMI 1.4a and 3x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The Tesla P4 requires no power connectors and a 250 W PSU, while the Radeon Pro Duo needs 3x 8-pin connectors and a 750 W PSU. The TDP difference is stark: 75 W versus 350 W.

The release dates are close, with the Radeon Pro Duo launching on April 25, 2016, and the Tesla P4 on September 12, 2016. Both are end-of-life products. The Radeon Pro Duo has a launch MSRP of 1,499 USD, while the Tesla P4 has no listed launch MSRP. The Radeon Pro Duo’s predecessor is FirePro GCN and its successor is Radeon Pro Polaris. The Tesla P4’s predecessor is Tesla Maxwell and its successor is Tesla Volta. The Tesla P4’s generation is listed as Tesla Pascal (Pxx), while the Radeon Pro Duo is in the Radeon Pro GCN generation.